Aprilia is great in Valencia in the qualifying of the Valencian Community Grand Prix, the decisive act of the 2023 MotoGP World Championship. If Maverick Vinales took the joy of the pole position, inevitably the spotlight was stolen by Pecco Bagnaia, who had a great reaction after the difficult Friday experienced yesterday.
The Aprilia Spaniard managed to touch up the track record he set yesterday, becoming the first capable of breaking the 1’29” barrier on the circuit named after Ricardo Tormo, with a sensational 1’28″931. For the driver from Roses, this is the first pole position since he switched to wearing the colors of the Noale company, so it certainly has a special flavour, also because it is a result that he was missing from Assen 2021. Among other things, he interrupts a Ducati branded streak of 15 consecutive poles.
As mentioned, however, the world championship leader stole the show, missing the starting line by just 92 thousandths, despite being forced to pass from Q1. And by virtue of this, Pecco used only one new tire in Q2, which however was enough for him to print a 1’29″023 which earned him second place on the grid.
Furthermore, after yesterday’s backlash, with rival Jorge Martin glued to the tail of his Ducati to make him nervous, this time the Piedmontese used an elusive tactic, returning to the track well in advance of everyone else in order to “enjoy” a lap alone. A strategy that he paid for, because his position will force a “Martinator” who instead struggled more than expected to go on the attack.
After the first run the Prima Pramac Racing rider was forced to change bike due to a problem linked to the front tire which was vibrating a lot (Michelin is already investigating), and he returned to the track visibly nervous, also because at that point he found himself use a hard tire on the front. In the first flying lap he risked contact with Marc Marquez and then in the second he ended up putting the tires on green. This is why in the end he will find himself having to start from the second row, from the sixth spot.
Between him and Bagnaia, however, there could be an ally like his teammate Johann Zarco, who on the last lap brought the other Desmosedici GP from Paolo Campinoti’s team to the front row in 1’29″144. The Frenchman beat the two KTMs of Jack Miller and Brad Binder, who will open the second row despite a rather disastrous fall by the South African at turn 8 towards the end.
Martin, however, could find himself dealing with Marco Bezzecchi, who set the seventh fastest time on the Mooney VR46 Ducati. The Rimini native precedes the two Marquez brothers, who both ended up on the ground in the last attempt: Alex, who is eighth after passing from Q1, fell at turn 10, while Marc follows him and his last qualifying with Honda is over in the gravel of turn 2.
The list of riders who had access to Q2 is completed with the two Aprilias of Raul Fernandez and Aleix Espargaro, still in pain from the fracture of the fibula head suffered in Qatar, between which the Ducati of Fabio Di Giannantonio was inserted from which we certainly expected a little more after the great step shown yesterday.
If you look at the names of the drivers who were eliminated at the end of Q1, you understand how Bagnaia had to stay “on track” to make the cut. It’s true that the first of the excluded is Augusto Fernandez, who with his GasGas Tech3 missed the feat by just 37 thousandths, but sharing the fifth row with him are two big names.
In fact, Enea Bastianini didn’t make it, and he will hardly be able to be an ally of his teammate in the two races this weekend: “Beast” will start 14th, just ahead of Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha, who was also the victim in FP2 of a rather spectacular crash at turn 10.
The sixth row opens with Takaaki Nakagami’s Honda LCR, while Luca Marini’s final qualifying with the Mooney VR46 was also rather disappointing. This morning the announcement of his farewell to the family team arrived and on Monday there should be the announcement of his move to Honda HRC, but in the meantime things have gone rather badly for him, given that he is only 17th on the grid.
A similar argument can be made for Franco Morbidelli, who has reached his last outing as an official Yamaha rider, who will line up his M1 in 19th position, behind someone else he is ready to say goodbye to, Pol Espargaro. In the case of the GasGas Tech3 driver it is a “heavier” greeting however, given that next year he will only be a test driver.
At the rear of the group we then find Lorenzo Savadori, called to replace the injured Miguel Oliveira on the RNF Racing Aprilia. Also in front of the Noale manufacturer’s test rider is Alex Rins, who made his return aboard the Honda of Lucio Cecchinello’s team just to say goodbye, given that from Tuesday he will take on the role of Yamaha factory rider.
It will not be from the Joan Mir match. Yesterday the Honda rider was the victim of a bad accident at turn 8 in the first free practice session and suffered a lot of pain in his neck. Even though the tests ruled out the presence of fractures, the Majorcan decided to stop to recover in view of Tuesday’s tests.
Q2 ranking
Q1 ranking
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